Charles Manson follower Patricia Krenwinkel was denied parole for the 14th time on Thursday and will not be considered again for another five years.
Having already served 47 years behind bars, the 69-year-old is now the longest-serving female inmate in all of California’s prison system. She is currently incarcerated at the California Institution for Women in Chino.
Krenwinkel was convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder and one count conspiracy to commit murder for her involvement in the infamous 1969 killing spree instigated by Manson, which included the butchering of Roman Polanski’s pregnant wife, Sharon Tate. She was initially handed the death sentence in 1971, but it was repealed in California before she could be executed.
Thursday’s parole hearing was a resumption of a December 2016 meeting, which was suspended after Krenwinkel’s attorney claimed that his client was a victim of “Intimate Partner Battery” (often referred to as “battered wife syndrome”) by Manson, CNN reported.
Tate’s sister, Debra Tate, has dismissed the claim that Krenwinkel was abused by the cult leader, telling CNN, “She could have cut and run any time. She did it [the murders] because she enjoyed it.”
According to court testimony, on the first night of the killing spree, Krenwinkel pursued and stabbed coffee heiress Abigail Folger 28 times. She later complained her hand hurt from the stabbings, prosecutors said.
Krenwinkel also testified that she stabbed Rosemary LaBianca on the second night while LaBianca pleaded for the life of her husband, Leno. Krenwinkel later scrawled “Death to Pigs” on the wall with his blood.
Manson, now 82, remains behind bars in California, and fellow follower, Leslie Van Houten, also had her petition for parole denied by California Jerry Brown last July, despite it being passed by a parole board.